December 12, 2011

"They have some legitimate points and what not, but we are part of the 99 percent and they are stopping us from coming to work," said Tim, a 44-year-old longshoreman who didn't want to give his last name. "The 1 percent's cargo doesn't come in here. The caviar comes in from Russia first class, not on a slow boat from China."

Organizers hoped the "Shutdown Wall Street on the Waterfront" protests would cut into the profits of the corporations that run the docks and send a message that their Occupy movement isn't finished....

From Long Beach, Calif., to as far away as Anchorage, Alaska, and Vancouver, British Columbia, protesters beat drums and carried signs as they marched outside port gates....

While the demonstrations were largely peaceful and isolated to a few gates at each port, local officials in the longshoremen's union and port officials or shipping companies determined that the conditions were unsafe for workers.

Hmmm. Who really shut down these places? Not really the demonstrators, was it?

Longshoremen work for a living. They just don't understand the Occupy folks. The Occupy people should close down govt. offices, no one will notice the lack of "production," and all the workers will get paid

If this continues the paisans who run the longshoremen union will get these bozos "minds right"..Louisville Slugger style.

Yep, absolutely brilliant. Let's shut down every major port on the West Coast, in protest of the lousy working conditions of truckers, longshoremen, and sailors -- by making it impossible for truckers, longshoremen, and sailors to do any work or get any pay.

Not to mention that CA in particular is not in a position itself to forgo any revenue at all. How much do you suppose this juvenile stunt is going to cost Oakland? Or the other cities hit? What will the losses be in spoiled food, in ship and truck fuel, &c.? What will the impact on next year's school budget be, Oakland teachers? I've met second-graders who reason better than you do.

For you East Coasters, the ILWU is very very Old Left. It literally used to be Communist, with a capital C under Harry (Red) Bridges. Left enough that they were anti_FDR after the Germany/USSR Pact of 39.

They prefer Louisville Sluggers on the picket lines. Just the thing for kneecapping scabs...

It seems they have developed a better sense of trade economics than the OWS kids....

For you East Coasters, the ILWU is very very Old Left. It literally used to be Communist, with a capital C under Harry (Red) Bridges. Left enough that they were anti_FDR after the Germany/USSR Pact of 39.

We know the ILWU on the East Coast, but a question:

Were these the idiots who wanted FDR to declare war on Britain in the days before Barbarossa because Adolf was an ally of Uncle Joe?

Your version of reality includes pepper spray and rubber bullets for holding opinions, entirely ignoring obstruction or riots or even stopping people from their work.

If you refuse to admit even the obvious truth that peaceful assembly doesn't include "occupation", that this group, on purpose, has been as obnoxious as possible, blocking people going about their business and thinking themselves above the law, and holding riots when asked to stop their illegal behavior, then why should anyone take you seriously?

Blocking business, shutting down a port?

Seriously, garage?

In your world this isn't the behavior of thugs?

I suppose the fantasy is necessary... the fantasy that it's just their opinions that upset people and that anything they do is entirely justified.

I asked you before, garage, don't know if you saw it... tell me someone else who does what they do and doesn't get set up against the cops. People with the most obnoxious and entirely unacceptable opinions are allowed those opinions at public, obnoxious, demonstrations, without pepper spray or rubber bullets. Why? Because they get a permit, they don't shit in city parks and pretend that denying the use of public spaces to others is anything like civil.

Name someone else who does what these people do and doesn't get in trouble with the cops.

The rest of us are amazed at the sense of privilege involved. But it seems we don't live in the same world you do.

Here in Wisconsin, in the late 70's early 80's there was a push for WARF to relinquish the upper Wisconsin Dells land and attraction known as Stand Rock Indian Ceremonial to the natural owners, Native American tribes.

It was the politically correct thing to do.

The Ceremonial employer hundreds of Native Americans and had for probably that long.

The Tribal cooperative took over...within months the Native Americans "struck" on the Ceremonial and put themselves out of work. They closed down their own business on themselves. It was incredibly sad. Those that attempted to lead, had the experience and knowledge and tryed to stop the self destruction were attacked and ridiculed by the others. Bankruptcy followed.

Some are protesting income inequality. Some are protesting the bailouts. Some are protesting that their student loans weren't covered by the bailout. But, as Heath Ledger's Joker put it, "some men just want to watch the world burn." And I think those guys are ultimately in control.

at this moment, there's maybe a little over one hundred people blocking access to the port in oakland..(local tv news is, breathlessly, reporting "thousands and thousands"...make of that what you will)..who could easily be dispersed/diverted/arrested if not for the fact that the mayor has instructed the police to "facilitate the protester's first amendment rights" which, apparently, include keeping folks from getting to their jobs and preventing the export of time-sensitive agricultural products. the crowd is a mix of union reps, commie agitators, and hippie leftovers/wannabes. plenty of the usual theatrics: drumming and dancing about to help ward off tonight's frigid winds and exulting over their "victory". what a bunch of maroons!

I've always wondered why longshoremen and teamsters go along with the class grievance, trade war politics of the manufacturing unions, let alone the green left. These are people who live by trade and transport of goods, not to mention fossil fuels.

now we have disco music blasting from a flatbed truck parked amid the revelers...while real truckers are lined-up for miles along the side of the road, waiting for the opportunity to do their business so that they can be paid and go on to their next job or head for home.hippie dance parties take precedence, of course...after all, they are the 99%.

You were just annoyed at the fact Law and Order was shut down because of OWS. Which, would have blocked traffic and businesses! And by golly I bet you would go to the mat for Law and Order to write and say anything they want, in downtown NYC, protected under the First Amendment.

Really? Law and Order is a leftist hack show you couldn't pay me to watch.

But OWS did shut down the production of an episode. Because they are privileged shits. I don't have to like L&O to defend their right to do business when they've followed all the rules that we've set out for them to follow; pay fees, get permits, compensate for the disruptions.

OWS is special, they don't have to compensate for any disruptions. They don't have to pay for the money they steal from anyone by costing them business or shutting them down. If they showed up at your business and shut you down for the day, you'd care, and so would I. It's wrong.

The ILWU is one of the strongest and most effective unions anywhere. They practice solidarity, and the members are very well paid. If they decide the blockade is over, that's the end of it: they'll take care of the OWS folks a lot faster and more effectively than the cops would. And the cops aren't going to give them any trouble either. They don't have a dog in this fight.

Longshoremen make a lot of money considering the nature of the job - I think the union has them at $100 to 125K minimum including clerk jobs. They're not going to die if they weren't paid for a week.

I don't consider the paper pushing jobs with the huge bennies "working for a living" - they get grandfathered in and there is all kinds of lottery graft when it comes to getting a place...

but whatever.

I find it interesting that the collegiate OWS types are coming down on the very powerful unions as well - who got their from their ability to hold corporate trade hostage - not so different from OWS really.

I can never tell if you're an idiot, or you just think the rest of us are.

How many members are there on these "committees of co-workers"? Notice that nothing says these committees were elected by a vote of all co-workers--it just says these 5 clowns were elected by some "committees".

Guess what, my friend--There's a Committee of Concerned Workers here at the coffee shop that just elected me to represent them all to the Althouse blog. And on their behalf I'm calling bullshit on your little "open letter."

The ILWU is closer to a guild than to a union. It's a well paid job, and you need connections to get into the union. I don't think the longshoremen will be in the vanguard of the revolution.....I can't see how the OWS protesters thought this action would make them look anything but childish and stupid. Next week, they should take over the Children's Hospital Leukemia Ward to protest big pharma profits. That'll look good. Throw those whiny little baldies out on their asses for the sake of the higher cause.

A leftwing mob shutting down businesses is Democracy. Non-left-wingers peacefully protesting against Big Government is Fascism and Racism.Kind of like how OWS goons throwing Molotov cocktails at the police after they've been told to disperse is actually police brutality.

Left-wingers bent on destroying other people's livelihoods In order to usher in totalitarian government policies are ALWAYS the heroes to people like Garage.

"So a film production crew can be shot with rubber bullets and pepper sprayed if they don't have a permit. Interesting times."

Well, if a film crew didn't have a permit, blatantly ignored police orders to vacate an area, and then resorted to intentionally, aggressively disrupting anything else happening in the area whle forcefully confronting the police, then sure, force would be needed.

And at the same time: If the OWS protestors had area permits, observed basic regulations and acted like good citizens in respecting residents, and local workers, and not disrupting life and enterprise in the area, then there's no need for police intervention.

It's all about behavior.

I don't agree with pepper spraying protestors who don't commit any aggressive acts. But I also don't agree with giving protestors passes on disruption and aggression simply because they're protesting. There used to be something called "good citizenship" taught in elementary schools. Modern society seems to have forgotten it.

"Longshoremen were paid hourly wages of $19.63 to $34.58 for regular work and $35.08 to $50.90 per hour for overtime, according to a PayScale survey" ... "total annual wages reported by longshoremen in the survey ranged from $50,393 to $99,907."

If that's true, it's a little difficult to consider pay as one of their "legitimate points."